YJB's placement of boys criticised
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has denied claims it has been "trawling" secure children's homes for boys to put into young offender institutions (YOI).
The Secure Accommodation Network said a number of homes had received phone calls from the YJB's placement team asking if they had any boys over the age of 15 who could be moved to a YOI.
Roy Walker, acting chair of the network, said: "Little or no explanation has been given as to the reasons for the action, but we must assume it has to do with bed pressures."
Walker added that, in at least two instances, the secure homes concerned were told by the YJB they would have no choice and that the boys would have to be moved, despite opposition from managers.
But a spokeswoman for the YJB said secure home placements were reviewed on a monthly basis. She said that since secure homes are intended for the youngest and most vulnerable children, once an inmate turned 15 they would be reviewed and moved to a YOI unless they had not shown any progress.
"It's not to do with capacity - if it was we would be moving 18-year-olds to the secure adult estate," she said.